(Chicago, IL) - In a dynamic change to the format of the
traditional SIGGRAPH Art Gallery, this year's art and design
program will represent innovative juried and curated installations
across two complementary themes - Slow Art and Design &
Computation.

In Slow Art, new media artists re-imagine speed through the
paradigm of slowness.

SIGGRAPH 2008 Slow Art encompasses juried art from 41 artists
meditating on fast and slow living in a landscape of technology.
The goal of the collection is to investigate if the speed of our
digital culture creates an oasis for contemplation or a hunger for
yet more speed.

The artworks are categorized into four themes:

Erosion, exploring the wear of time and repetition

Hybrids, objects and interactions uniquely combining
contrasting elements of old and new

Rhythms, documenting patterns and play

Traversal, discovering paths that define humans' relationship
to time

"In our fast-paced society, we often get caught up with
enhanced productivity. We forget to stop, look, and listen to our
surroundings. What are the consequences of bigger, better, faster,
more?" asks Lina Yamaguchi, SIGGRAPH 2008 Juried Art Chair
from Stanford University. "Through the platform of new media,
41 artists share condensed perceptions of time and interrogate the
limits of performance, distance, desire, and respite."

"The emergence of digital tools and methods used by
contemporary architects and designers has been inextricably
connected to developments in computer graphics throughout
time," stated Lira Nikolovska, SIGGRAPH 2008 Chair of Curated
Art from Autodesk, Inc. "The digital information with which
designers work has provided new means for expression as well as a
material that can be molded and reshaped in a radically different
way. The works in this exhibit weave together the past and the
present in many ways - whether through the evolution of computer
graphics or otherwise."

Associative Audio Design
Dennis de Bel - Piet Zwart Institute, Willem de Kooning Academy,
Rotterdam University of Applied Science, Rotterdam, The
Netherlands
This piece illuminates the creation of music and sound by
associated everyday objects such as sewing machines, vacuum
cleaners, and record players. The combinations draw on similarities
in form and function as well as wordplay.

Navigator
Jorn Ebner - Artist, United Kingdom
Paralleling the random nature of real-life decision-making,
Navigator is a Flash-based world incorporating digital photographs
and sound in animated sequences. Users amble through real and
representational environments without knowing exactly where they
will lead.

Phantasm
Takahiro Matsuo - Monoscape, Japan
Phantasm is an interactive installation in which participants take
hold of a glowing sphere that releases a pale blue light as white
butterflies appear from nowhere and a soft piano melody flows.

The Life and Death of Energy-Autonomous Objects
Anab Jain, Alex Taylor - Microsoft Research, United Kingdom
This installation presents a collection of conceptual objects
designed to encourage questions around recent advances in microbial
fuel cell (MFC) technology. The objects, as well as video footage
simulating their use, demonstrate how MFCs have the potential to
provide what are called "energy autonomous" solutions for
powering everyday objects.

Continua
Erwin Hauer and Enrique Rosado, EHR Associates LLC, Bethany,
Connecticut, USA
The concepts of continuity and potential infinity have been central
themes of Erwin Hauer's opus from very early on in his career as a
sculptor. In his native Vienna, he began to explore perforated
modular structures that evolved into infinite continuous surfaces
that lent themselves to architectural usage. In partnership with
Enrique Rosado, Hauer currently explores digital production of his
Continua series using digital means, specifically design
transformations, creation of custom tools, and CNC milling
techniques.

Weaving Public and Private: Interior Wall Studies
Neil Katz, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, New York, USA
This sample interior wall panel was conceived as a 25-meter-long
and 15-meter-tall screen that consists of solid, repeating Corian
components that both hang together structurally and weave public
and private spaces. The resulting divider is a thickly layered and
textured screen that generates the project-appropriate degree of
visual transparency. The system functions as both surface and
structure thanks to the interplay between geometry and
material.

One_Shot.MGX
Patrick Jouin and Materialise MGX
The One_Shot.MGX foldable stool, designed by Patrick Jouin, was
produced for the design collection of Materialise MGX. The project
is an investigation of using rapid prototyping and rapid
manufacturing technologies in the field of industrial design. The
seating surface and the legs of the stool emerge from the 3D
printing machine at once (in "one shot"), hence the name
of the stool.

Tropism
Commonwealth and Joshua Davis, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Tropism is an attempt to bridge the techniques and visions of two
digitally oriented art and design studios, Commonwealth and Joshua
Davis. Davis is known for his generative, rule-driven graphic
compositions, while Commonwealth is known for their experimental
products and forms. The two came together to create a computational
design series of painted porcelain vases. The Tropism vase series
is not only a reflection of the complexity and mutability of the
botanic world, but also an application of algorithmic, code-driven
art to complex topology and material form.

Ice Rays
George Stiny, MIT Department of Architecture, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, USA
Ice rays are a type of traditional Chinese lattice used in
ornamental window grilles. They form irregular patterns that
suggest cracking ice on still water. Shape grammar rules for
ice-rays are applied to make several examples of ice-ray windows,
fabricated with a CNC milling machine.

A Landscape of 3D Printed Skyscrapers
Multiple architectural studios
3D printed models of skyscrapers from a number of architectural
offices represent a glimpse into the architects' design process,
where numerous variations are explored and overall form and façade
articulation are developed while creating a skyscraper.

About SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH 2008 will bring an estimated 30,000 computer graphics and
interactive technology professionals from six continents to Los
Angeles, California, USA for the industry's most respected
technical and creative programs focusing on research, science, art,
animation, gaming, interactivity, education, and the web from
Monday, 11 August through Friday, 15 August 2008 at the Los Angeles
Convention Center. Celebrating its 35th year, SIGGRAPH 2008
includes a three-day exhibition of products and services from the
computer graphics and interactive marketplace from 12-14 August
2008. More than 250 international exhibiting companies are
expected. Registration for the conference and exhibition is open to
the public. More details

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